Le Mobile (3)by Xavier Veilhan. I'm a huge fan of Calder's mobiles and when I saw this piece by Veihan, I immediately took a liking to his work. This particular mobile is constructed of twenty-five painted plastic and aluminum spheres linked together by metal and string. Veihan describes each black circle as a "thought bubble". As a sculpture, it connects thoughts and feelings by a group of people when gathered at a certain place and time, "the sum of all thoughts" if you would. It's rather impressive when shown within the compounds of a museum or a grand architectural space (could you imagine having one commissioned for your home?!) Literally took my breathe away. It's strange, but when they are done in bright colors, I feel like they create completely different conversations all together. Hence, the magic of colors and shapes – big happy thoughts, deep dark feelings, small conversations… I love it when they are shown in scale too, the proportion and dynamics each sculpture creates between an object and the human form is quite intriguing… almost as if you are a character in an animated film, just waiting for the "thought bubbles" to make a move.

Patrick Dougherty has combined his love of nature with his sense of design and architecture to create over 200 woven stick works around the world. Mr. Dougherty, with the help of students and volunteers at each of his project sites, creates a sculptural experience for the visitor. He embraces the natural lifecycle of his material, which over time settles and decays, eventually returning to the earth. Patrick uses locally sourced material for each of his installations.

“My affinity for trees as a material seems to come from a childhood spent wandering the forest around Southern Pines, North Carolina – a place with thick underbrush and many intersecting lines evident in the bare winter branches of trees,” Dougherty has said. “When I turned to sculpture as an adult, I was drawn to sticks as a plentiful and renewable resource. I realized that saplings have an inherent method of joining – that is, sticks entangle easily. This snagging property is the key to working material into a variety of large forms.”

I recently learned of the the phenomenal world of talented illustrator and sculptor Jeremy Mayer.

His medium: Typewriters.

I find Jeremy's work to be interesting on multiple levels; It is exacting, playful, mechanical and an expression of nature simultaneously. There is such beauty in the expression of his creations. I can feel the depth in the eyes, and the delicacy of the hand. The figure above is titled: Delilah. She is real. Isn't she?

Jeremy describes his work and process: "I disassemble typewriters and then reassemble them into full-scale, anatomically correct human figures. I do not solder, weld, or glue these assemblages together- the process is entirely cold assembly. I'm very interested in assembly, particularly in nature. I pay very close attention to the strong current in science and technology flowing inexorably toward an emulation of natural systems".

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Welcome to "Musings", FLOR's blog dedicated to design inspiration. We've invited a few of our friends to share their personal design thoughts and experiences. We hope you leave feeling empowered and return to be inspired.